josephbleazard

This film has been described as Jansco's first masterpiece. I would probably agree. The story concerns a 17yr old hungarian stranded in Russia at the end of the second world war, adrift after the collapse of the German army. He speaks a few words of German and no Russian. He seemingly feels nothing, and the film gives no easy explanations why. Like every other character in a Jansco film he seems completely overwhelmed by the scale of the landscape who finds himself wandering in almost antlike, almost always lost at the rear of a longshot. We never learn how close he is to hungary.

Eventually the film becomes a vivid and psychologically telling depiction of male friendship. In 1967 a story of friendship between a Russian and a hungarian after WW2 is an incredibly political subject,yet Jansco affects a kind of delightful innocence in this section and never lets his symbolism overwhelm his characters. What could have been over-reaching and didactic emerges as more of a chamber piece. I don't know how Jansco ever got away with making these kinds of movies in a soviet country.

My only caveat is that Jansco's most significant theme, political violence and its random nature, is partly explored in this film but in a way completely superficial and unaffecting compared to the terrible catharsis of films like "The round up" and "the red and the white".

Overall, a gem

I must back up the previous reviewer. This is easily one of Suzuki's best pictures and deserves a much wider audience. At the moment I am writing this it has only 1 IMDb comment - there should be essays and theses on this piece. This is a B movie but one where Suzuki enjoyed a freer rein than in others I have seen. He was also blessed with a charismatic lead and supporting characters full of the deviance he loved to explore.

The film itself is a frenetic exploration of modernity and corruption and the collapse of codes of honour in the face of commerce. Add to this gratuitous action and a love story told with a kind of melodramatic fury that stays with me today, despite the fact that it only takes up about 10 minutes of the films narrative.

This film is frantic at only 90 minutes long. Suzuki threw the pot the kettle the sink and even the camera at this film. And he caught it. I don't know what that means. I don't know what this film means. But if you like Suzuki watch it and piece it together and come to appreciate just how grand a scope a cinematic master can encompass in a 90 minute action epic.

Wang Xiaoshuai is grouped with the sixth generation Chinese directors led by Jia Zhangke and Jiang Wen. He is also clearly influenced by Italian Neo-realism as evidenced by the plots much noted similarity to De Sicca's Bicycle Thief. The other clear influence is the work of Taiwanese long shot auteurs like Tsai Mian-liang and Hou hsiao hsien. This combination of influences has created a style which some have proclaimed innovative but which to a seasoned viewer of world cinema is derivative, generic and actually shot in a very workmanlike style without any particular framing ability, brio or gift for mise en scene.

The premise of this movie could have led to an interesting examination of modern china, but the writers seemed unable to find any realistic way to bring about this premise. Once the relationship between country boy and city poor is established the contrast between their lives is not used to say or show anything of interest but instead the director opts for fallacious pieces of symbolism to show their "innate similarity".

The movie has been praised for gritty realism in showing the life of the Chinese poor, but it is actually incredibly false. The beijing of this movie is too clean, too bright, too picturesque and would appear to only have about ten people living in it. The movie also cops out by having every single character speaking putonghwa - very unlikely.

Finally, the acting is poor and unnaturalistic and every plot point drawn out for melodramatic effect. This must be the most over-rated piece of world cinema i've ever seen. Instead of following the herd to this tosh watch the true leaders of the sixth generation.